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Objective: To review the program and patient metrics for ovarian tissue cryopreservation (OTC) within a comprehensive pediatric fertility preservation program in its first 12 years of development., Design: Retrospective review., Setting: A tertiary children's hospital in a large urban center between March 2011 and February 2023., Patients: Pediatric patients who underwent OTC., Interventions: Unilateral oophorectomy for OTC., Main Outcome Measures: Patient demographics and clinical course information were collected for analysis., Results: A total of 184 patients underwent OTC in the first 12 years. One hundred fifteen patients were prepubertal at the time of OTC, and 69 were postpubertal. In total, 128 patients (69.6%) received part of their planned therapy before OTC. Starting in 2018, 104 participants (92.0%) donated tissue to research, 99 participants (87.6%) donated blood, and 102 (90.2%) donated media to research. There was a decrease in the median age of patients who underwent OTC from 16.4-6.6 years and an overall increase in the proportion of patients per year that were prepubertal. Forty-eight (26.0%) patients who underwent OTC were outside referrals and traveled from as far as Seattle, Washington., Conclusion: During the first 12 years of this program, oncofertility research increased, annual tissue cryopreservation cases increased, and the median age of those who underwent OTC decreased. The program was adapted to build a stand-alone gonadal tissue processing suite and specialized in prepubertal ovarian tissue processing. The program will continue to adapt to patient needs in the upcoming decades because restoration technologies advance through research supported by this and collaborating programs., Competing Interests: K.L.M. has nothing to disclose. T.K. has nothing to disclose. E.E.R. has nothing to disclose. M.M.L. has nothing to disclose., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Objective: To study ovarian gross morphologic and subanatomic features across pubertal development., Design: Prospective cohort study., Setting: An academic medical center with specimens collected from 2018-2022., Patients: Tissue was obtained from prepubertal and postpubertal participants (0.19-22.96 years) undergoing ovarian tissue cryopreservation before treatment that put them at a significantly or high increased risk of developing premature ovarian insufficiency. Most participants (64%) had not received chemotherapy at tissue collection., Interventions: None., Main Outcome Measures: Ovaries procured for fertility preservation were weighed and measured. Ovarian tissue fragments released during processing, biopsies used for pathology, and hormone panels were analyzed for gross morphology, subanatomic features, and reproductive hormones. Graphical analysis of best-fit lines determined age at maximum growth velocity., Results: Prepubertal ovaries were significantly (1.4-fold and 2.4-fold) smaller than postpubertal ovaries by length and width and 5.7-fold lighter on average. Length, width, and weight grew in a sigmoidal pattern with age. Prepubertal ovaries were less likely to display a defined corticomedullary junction (53% vs. 77% in postpubertal specimens), less likely to have a tunica albuginea (22% vs. 93% in postpubertal specimens), contained significantly more (9.8-fold) primordial follicles, and contained primordial follicles at significantly deeper depths (2.9-fold) when compared with postpubertal ovaries., Conclusions: Ovarian tissue cryopreservation is a resource to study human ovarian biology and pubertal development. Maximum growth velocity occurs late within the pubertal transition (Tanner 3+) after changes in subanatomic features. This ovarian morphology model adds to foundational knowledge of human ovarian development and supports ongoing transcriptomics research., (© 2023 The Author(s).)